Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/115

Rh is small; the people are short; the lanes are narrow; the houses are low and small; farms are insignificant; teacups, other dishes, pipes, etc., are like our toys; and innumerable other objects are Lilliputian. Pierre Loti, the French writer, in his description of Japanese life, draws extensively on the diminutives of his native tongue. In business matters, moreover, the Japanese seem incapable of managing big enterprises, and do everything on a small scale with a small capital. The saying that they are "great in little things and little in great things" contains some truth. But it must, in fairness, be acknowledged that, of recent years, the Japanese have begun to display a remarkable facility and success in the management of great enterprises. They are outgrowing this characteristic of smallness, and are even now reckoned among the "great world-powers."

The Japanese are famous the world over for their politeness and courtesy; they are a nation of good manners, and, for this and other qualities, have been styled "the French of the Orient." From morning to night, from the cradle to the grave, the entire life is characterized by unvarying gentleness and politeness in word and act. Many of the expressions and actions are mere formalities, it is true; but they have, by centuries of hereditary influence,